198 CUB-HUNTING 



again in time to attend to pressing matters 

 of business. There are no lurking fears as 

 to whether his mount is equal to the task 

 before him ; there is no waiting at the meet, 

 and hounds are busy in the covert as soon 

 as it is reached. The sound of the horn, 

 the opening pack, the view-halloo from the 

 whipper-in, the crack of the men's whips, 

 and the rattling and rustling in the gorse, are 

 pleasanter because of the interval that has 

 passed since last they woke the woodlands, 

 and for the stillness of the outside world at 

 this early hour. Soon after the first brace 

 of cubs have been killed, and hounds are 

 being taken to the next cover, the labourer 

 going to the field and the horses to the 

 plough remind him how young the day still 

 is ; and a little later the sun on his back, 



